


Wingless Tengu

by YumeBanashi



Category: Naruto
Genre: ANBU - Freeform, Action/Adventure, F/M, Female Reader, Fourth Shinobi War, Friendship, Konoha Village, Ninja, Reader-Interactive, Romance, Shinobi, Teamwork, Tengu, senju sisters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-02-28 14:58:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13273884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeBanashi/pseuds/YumeBanashi
Summary: The events leading up to where you stood now were either miserable misfortunes or small but significant occurrences. After years of unrecognized abilities and fighting under a mask, you’re soon put into the excursions of the anbu black ops once your skills become acknowledged by the Third Hokage himself. What you didn’t expect was getting attached to a team. Neither did you predict finding more companions other than your summoned animal, and nor would you have ever guessed that you would tie bonds with them in the onerous journey of shinobi life.As the great descendant of the Second Hokage, you vowed to protect the village he helped create. Nothing else mattered more. While rekindling with your past, and putting an end to village invasions thanks to the Akatsuki and their antics, you hope to find purpose throughout the long passages of your story.





	1. Konoha Tengu

           “The prisoners!”

            Men shouted from empty cell rooms that penetrated through the deep cement walls. They searched the entire premises but found not a single trace of the innocent captives. The guards grabbed their weapons one after another and went on a hustle to search for the mysterious disappearance of the prisoners. They had witnessed men knocked out on the hallway floors and none of them had heard a single sound. They didn’t even know how long ago the incident had occurred. Of course they did not stand still long enough for you to have some time for your escape. Their hollering set an alarm inside you and you sensed the presence of them running to catch up. They had already reached the forest area that you and the freed captives were currently in.

            Your hand squeezed tighter onto a boy’s arm while he tried to keep up with your pace. A shinobi’s pace. You slowed down a tad bit after noticing the others were falling slightly behind. Once they caught up again, you continued to run as you were almost to an area of open space. There was no better option than to dispatch that jutsu you normally didn’t use as you could already hear the footsteps of enemies close by.

            You stopped once you arrived at the perfect spot while the boy next to you stood idly, unsure of what was happening. All you had to do was wait for the others. After a few nail-biting moments you finally saw that the last one of the escapees had reached your spot.

            With a sense of urgency and impatience, the boy asked you, “What are we stopping for?”

            Ignoring his question, you instead moved certain people to get closer to one another and formed them into groups. Luckily they were already huddled against one another which made it easier for you to perform your technique. You quickly grabbed your kunai.

            “Kuchiyose no jutsu.”

            Blood splurged from your thumb once its skin was split open. Putting your palm on the ground where you stood, the ritual-like formation has surrounded you. The writings remained only for a short moment until a puff of large smoke hid its view; the circle of characters disappeared. You were no longer standing on the ground, instead it was replaced by an enormous white rabbit. Her eyes were as red as the blood trickling down your thumb. She stood still, giving you and the others enough time to settle onto her back. With no rush, she leaped gently elsewhere as you had commanded her to.

            There were no words for the phenomenon they were experiencing. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before, even in a world like theirs.

            The enemies arrived sooner than expected, but just in time to encounter upon your companion. It was amazing how fast they were able to catch up. Surprisingly enough, they stopped to witness the mythical-like creature right in front of them. With little to no time, she jumped her way up to where the trees were just beneath her. The boy you ran with earlier grabbed onto the softness of her fur as everyone else did the same.

            A scream interrupted your focus on the route you planned on heading to. A few shurikens flew from the trees to strike at anyone riding on your rabbit. You looked back to see the enemies make pathetic attempts at throwing more shurikens and kunais towards your companion. Even the paper bombs attached to it had failed miserably at making the rabbit move; not even a flinch. They continued to be persistent by throwing more weapons and tools towards you which caused you to grow irritated.

            Adjusting your mask to where it revealed your mouth, you lifted it so that you could use some wind release; a special ninjutsu you had skill in, other than summoning your companion. Walking past the former prisoners who were currently shaking out of fear, you stood near the rabbit’s tail. By swiftly performing a hand seal, you managed to make your chakra as sharp and thin as possible. Generating that chakra into air circulation, you opened your lips half-way, and then with brute force, you released unimaginable amounts of air. The wind slashed through the trees which revealed the enemies hiding about behind them. Soon they received some cuts by your vicious wind release, ultimately falling to the hard ground.

            By then the kunais and shurikens have stopped flying towards you. The enemies couldn’t catch up anymore, obviously not to a gigantic rabbit. You and the others were finally safe.

            Walking back up to the head of the rabbit, no one spoke a word to you. They didn’t raise any questions. They were all just relieved to be out of the cells you have freed them from. They were safe, and that was all that mattered to them. The story behind them and why they were put inside dirty chambers was simple: the enemies were Otogakure.

            The boy you ran with was the only one out of the abductees who couldn’t help but keep his mouth shut. He would implode if he didn’t ask you at least one of the questions circulating in his head.

            “Who are you?”

            You stayed absolutely quiet.

            “You’re a ninja right?”

            Without receiving a single reply, the boy began to pout as he was already annoyed with your silence. The stomping of your rabbit followed by the harsh howls of the wind was loud and deafening. The boy had to yell, but instead of doing so he moved closer to sit right behind your back.

            “Why did you save us? Are you a hero from a village?”

            You turned your head sideways since you were sitting in front with your back faced to him. The mask you wore showed off its short beak and the angry detailing of the eyes made the boy not really intimidated, but more curious. Black feathers covered in layers of your mask were ruffled by the night wind. Its angry frown made it look very menacing, but the yamabushi hat portrayed a holy or spiritual appearance. The boy realized it.

            “A…tengu?” The boy whispered in astonishment.

            To be frank, you had no reason to talk about yourself, much less talk at all. In fact this was the first time anyone had come up to you and ask questions. Usually you were hidden in the mountains, and much like the wind, you would be gone by a swift breeze and in a blink of an eye. Everyone you encountered with has indeed wondered about you, but they only saw you as a mountain demon. A slayer of vanity who only received missions from the mountain god. That was how most people saw you, but really, you were just under the Hokage’s orders.

            You looked forward again, having no intention of starting a conversation. No one needed to know you. You didn’t want to know anyone. Your silence caused the boy to become mute for the rest of the ride as well.

            Your rabbit moved forward with the gusty wind like there was a storm approaching, and gave way for freedom to the captives you have saved that night.

            ---

            “You have done very excellent.”

            “Thank you Hokage-sama.”

            “It’s impossible for a single person to finish this job in one night. But as expected of you, it was done without any mess. Well done [y/n]-san.”

            You bowed once more from receiving such proud compliments.

            “Surely you have the skills to join the Anbu corpse someday. The organization has even begun calling you the Konoha-tengu.”

            You looked at the old soul with uncertainty. The anbu corpse required teamwork skills you were unfamiliar with as well as a leader for sure. You never really considered it but what was the hurt in joining? You had no obligations whatsoever and you didn’t want to exactly brush away the third Hokage’s request either.

            “Of course it’s up to you, but I’m sure you could learn from them a few skills, especially in working with others,” the third said as he blew a puff of smoke from his pipe.

            “If you wish for me to join, then I will,” you said without too much thought.

            The third seemed very pleased with your reply. “Very well then, I’ll let them know you will be joining. Go and get some rest now.”

            You bowed to him once more.

            “Thank you. Good night Hokage-sama.”

            And with that you left his room. You walked quietly downstairs while your mind talked loudly. Maybe you shouldn’t have been so rash to make the decision. Even though he has encouraged you to join for quite some time, you were always hesitant on the given choice. You began to worry if this would be a good idea, but then again, you already chose an option. There wasn’t anything else to do besides continue doing what you have always been doing. Maybe some change would be good for once.

            ---

            “It’s that crow demon again.”

            “Tch, taking our job like it’s nothing but D-rank missions,” a man complained, picking up an unconscious body from the ground.

            “At least they have taken care of it well.”

            “If they can take care of it then why are we needed here?”

            “Probably to pick up their trash,” one muttered.

            “Never mind what they did. Let’s just hurry and finish our own job.”

            Picking up the knocked-out shinobis from the dirt floor, a certain anbu team member was listening to the gossips about a certain mysterious ninja. The talk and rumor about them had peaked his interest over some time.

            “Kakashi senpai?”

            “Hm?”

            “Would you happen to know anything about the recent stories?”

            “There are many stories.”

            “Specifically about the masked tengu.”

            “Oh you mean the Konoha tengu?” He carried two bodies over his shoulders, attempting to carry one more.

            “Hai.”

            “Well…” He reached down awkwardly to grab the man right near his feet, but after another failed try his friend picked him up instead.

            “I guess you could say she’s pretty special. I don’t know about her much myself except that she’s the fastest shinobi alive.”

            “Eh? Really? But I thought you or Gai-san was the fastest.”

            “I’m flattered, but compared to the tengu, our speed is nothing,” Kakashi said without much care. “Now Tenzou, would you pick the one right there? He’s pretty heavy and I want to get this over with.”

            Tenzou looked over his shoulder and sighed. So much for starting a conversation with his senior. But he _did_ learn a bit about the tengu. Or in other words, the fastest modern shinobi.

            ---

            “Here’s your uniform.”

            You looked down at it with curiosity when the receptionist handed it to you. The bird omen assigned to you was different than what you were used to wearing, but it wasn’t like you had a choice. This was your new job now. Working with other people. As teams.

            You grabbed your outfit and the anbu suit to get changed. The locker room was right near the front desk and so you went to go right inside. As soon as you opened the door, you saw not very many ladies inside; about five to six of them or so. They whipped their heads towards you and you immediately felt exposed for some reason. A few of them glared at you as if they wanted to start a fight, which was very unlikely so considering that they were just serious shinobis. The others only stared at you in interest. Quickly, you introduced yourself in hopes of making things seem less awkward.

            “Good evening, my name is [y/n]. I will be working with you all starting from today.”

            Most of them just nodded and smiled while the rest stayed completely silent. You began to worry if you had said something wrong.

            “Nice to meet you [y/n]-san, my name is Uzuki Yuugao. I look forward to working with you. Of course, you’ll be working with many others not in this room as well.” A tall woman with a pretty lean figure introduced herself as she walked over to you.

            You gave her a small smile, relieved to have someone polite enough to talk to you back. She smiled as well, while some others followed after her to see you.

            “You’re the karasu tengu.”

            Just when one of them asked that question, someone happened to walk by and hear it. He stopped at the words ‘karasu tengu.’ More than curious, he listened intently outside the door.

            “Ah, yes I suppose so?” You replied uneasily.

            “We’ll probably get to go home earlier if you’re really joining us from now on haha.”

            “Don’t be rude. Ignore her [y/n]-san, she’s just joking,” Yuugao defended.

            “So really, how fast are you?

            “Are you deaf? She said she’ll be working with us from now on, you’ll find out once you go on missions with her.”

            “That is if you’re really able to catch up and see her.”

            They all laughed, as you forced a smile with them. You knew the girls had no intention on hurting your feelings or any of the sorts. They seemed like they were just keeping the place a lot less gloomy than it already was. You had to admit you kind of liked the lighter mood.

            “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll work well together somehow. I’ll see you around [y/n]-san.”

            With that, Yuugao turned on her heels and you saw her long purple hair wave flawlessly as she walked off to her own locker.

            “Enjoyed the view?” A voice made the man outside jump with absolute fear.

            “Sen-senpai, it’s not what you’re thinking,” Tenzou stammered.

            “What are you doing hanging our near the lady’s locker room then?” Kakashi asked with amusement.

            “Kakashi s-“

            “I really didn’t know you were the type to-”

            “Kakashi-san, I am not peaking inside the lady’s-”

            Tenzou’s sentence was cut short once he realized how loud his voice was. He saw Kakashi’s grin, even with the mask on. The embarrassing redness on Tenzou’s cheeks faded once he glared at his senior in vexation.

            “I was only- they were talking about the konoha tengu,” Tenzou whispered harshly.

            He moved Kakashi away from the door right before it opened. A few ladies stepped out including you who followed after them whilst looking around. You swear you heard some murmuring.

            “Well, would you look at that?” Kakashi looked down from his inseparable book, “It’s her.”

            Tenzou turned his head back and spotted you. He stared wide-eyed without you noticing his and Kakashi’s intensive glares. You walked over to a meeting area where supposedly everyone would be sent off to the first mission of their day.

            “Hey if you’re lucky maybe you can ask her more questions,” Kakashi said as he headed to where everyone else went.  

            As it turns out, Tenzou and you were teamed up along with Kakashi and one more anbu member. The mission was to take out Otogakure intruders nearing the village. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but for you it was a whole new experience. You only did what you were told, which was about the only thing that was the same. You convinced yourself that by following orders, you would be okay. The major difference between this and your usual job was that you had to keep an eye on your team. There was no opting out on them, and if one was hurt, there was a chance of failing the mission. You were snapped out of your over-analyzing thoughts when one of them greeted you.

            “My name is Tenzou, it’s nice to meet you.”

            You tilted your head to a little bow. “I’m [y/n], nice to meet you too.”

            A lot of people introduced themselves here. You wondered what the point in that was, but you appreciated the politeness at least.

            “Apologies for asking, but our leader is the one with the mask correct?”

            “Yes, Kakashi senpai is usually the one in charge of teams. He has been in the anbu for a pretty long time.”

            Your mind collected through names you have heard of before after hearing ‘Kakashi.’ Could he be? Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan.

            “The copy ninja…” you said to yourself quietly, although Tenzou heard you.

            “Yes, that is right,” Tenzou said. Kakashi is recognized by just about anyone when his name is mentioned. He is known throughout villages and similar to you, have gained popularity because of his skills and actions. Tenzou felt pretty lucky to be one of his juniors as well as a good friend of his.

            You on the other hand were amazed to be given the opportunity of working with him. You wondered what he would be like in action, and you had to admit you were a bit excited to see his moves. You have doubted that anything exhilarating would happen, but now you weren’t so sure about it. Perhaps this was a start to a new and intriguing adventure.


	2. Associates

            Blades of grass were slashed away once you and your team set off. All of you vaulted over branches of trees through the densely thick forest. The anbu edifice secretly hidden inside the cavernous woodland pulled further away. As expected of a furtive organization, you and the new group were quiet the entire way.

            Kakashi stopped as did the rest of the team. He signaled to halt until given another sign to move. He had incredibly sharp senses; about the same as the Inuzuka clans’ noses. You looked around with your keen eyesight, but couldn’t find anything that he sensed.

            “Enemies are a few meters from here,” Kakashi whispered. “We’ll continue with our procedure.”

            With that all four of you moved forward. Gradually the team split up: you followed Tenzou while the other member went along with Kakashi. For a brief moment the two of you stopped to wait and search the grounds, but bolted ahead after no sign of anything. After a few more leaps you believed to have seen the enemies on ground ahead. Although you were behind Tenzou, you figured he hasn’t noticed yet. You decided to give him a heads up while you ceased back and landed on a tree.

            “Tenzou-san, they’re right there.”

            Tenzou stopped as well and looked back to you sideways. He nodded as you nod you head back in response.

            A couple shinobis, unbeknownst to you and Tenzou’s presence, had kept walking towards Konoha. By the looks of it they really were Otogakure, but something seemed off. The fact that there were only two of them walking casually was questionable.

            Without a second thought, two kunais struck both of the shinobis. They fell to the ground in pain while Kakashi and his partner jumped out to interrogate them. You and Tenzou stayed back behind the trees in case they tried to escape.

            Soon more of the enemies including some Suna shinobis popped out of nowhere.

            Kakashi cursed under his breath while you and Tenzou jumped into action.

            Without noticing an enemy was behind you, he tried to attack but you turned around and grabbed him just in time. You were quick enough to snatch the kunai from his grasp after a hard kick on his side as you placed it right under his throat. Just then, one more enemy snuck up to attack you.

            Tenzou was quick enough to notice this, and so he stretched out his arms where the roots grew under the earth. It stretched until it caught the man right behind you. It strangled him until he eventually fell to the ground unconscious. Your eyes widened under your anbu mask upon witnessing this. Throughout the entire fight, you saw him using the one jutsu you thought you knew was extinct for good.

            “Where did you learn that?” you asked him after the rest were caught.

            Tenzou was about to answer but he was interrupted by another enemy attack. More Sunas were hiding amongst the trees.

            One of them used their sand jutus to try and trap you both. The two of you jumped right on time before it could reach the legs. After lifting up the bottom half of your mask, you utilized a wind release vacuum wave that sliced through the majority of your targets. Causing a grievous injury to the ones you hit, they moaned in pain while twitching on the ground. No one would ever want to be near the person using a vacuum wave.

            Kakashi came out of nowhere to finish the last of them off. He used his talented chidori to spark them until they were shocked and finally paralyzed. You were amazed by his brilliant technique as you’ve only heard stories of him using the said chidori in action. Soon all of your combat skills were somewhat coordinated along with the teams’. So this is what it’s like to work as a group. You looked back over at Tenzou who was having no problem fighting more attackers with his wood release.

            You would have to ask him about it later. No one knew that jutsu but the first Hokage. Brother of your great grandfather. You had guessed that he was also the descendant of the first. But there was no mention of another sibling of Tsunade’s or any sort of relation.  You would have known right away too. Could he have maybe learned to possess the power himself? If so he must be an incredible shinobi. Or a dangerous one.

            At the end of the fight, Kakashi took responsibility in questioning the intruders. Not much later did you and the team swiftly left to go and report the incident. You wondered when Suna and Otogakure began working together.

            All of you arrived safely back to the same area. The mission was done fast and was way too easy, but you expected it would get more strenuous, noting that this was only the first day. Kakashi dismissed everyone but you caught up to Tenzou before he could leave.

            “How did you know how to use that jutsu? Only the first Hokage carried that power,” you said to him.

            Tenzou halted and turned around to face you. Your eager expression was different from the uncommunicative manner from before.

            “It’s rather a long story.”                                         

            You leaned your head in a bit close, indicating that you were willing to listen to it.

            “We have a long day, unless you have plans.”

            Tenzou shifted his feet while you glowered at him suspiciously. It was unelaborated whether he didn’t have anything else to do outside this job, but you wouldn’t know that of course. He eventually sighed under your glare and decided to tell you a brief summary of his background. He wasn’t really planning on standing there all day.

            “I was taken from my clan when I was very little, by Orochimaru.” You almost shivered upon hearing the snake’s name. “There were other children taken in as well to be his testers. I was the only one out of the experimentation to survive.”

            You listened in understanding while displaying penitence. There was still no answer to how he obtained the wood release but you waited patiently for him to continue.

            “The tubes that we were forced to be in contained all kinds of DNA inside of the liquids. Apparently it included the first Hokage’s DNA as well.”

            Your eyelids flickered in surprise. Tenzou blinked back.

            “I understand why you would be curious as to how I acquired the First Hokage’s jutsu, but why the sudden interest in his abilities?” Tenzou asked curiously.

            “Because he was my great granduncle,” you answered.

            Tenzou’s eyes widened even bigger than its usual enormous size.

            “You-you’re, so-” Tenzou stammered.

            He had been talking with the great granddaughter of honorable blood. He instantly felt embarrassed, feeling as if he should have talked to you with a more formal dialect upon realizing you were the Second’s descendant. No one mentioned a cousin of Lady Tsunade’s.

            “I’m very sorry I didn’t realize,” Tenzou said, although there wasn’t any sign of knowing. You were obviously very reserved.

            “It’s not that big of a deal,” you said. Flattered by his politeness, you put up your hands to reassure his mortification.

            “S-still, I had no idea since nobody had informed me,” Tenzou said this as he immediately thought about Kakashi. He knew about this for sure.

            You smiled for a brief moment, “Again, no worries.”              

            The heat was beaming through your anbu outfits which was directly hitting your exposed shoulders from the sunlight. You both stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what else to say. You had more questions about Orochimaru and you were still inquisitive of his escape. However you didn’t want to pressure him into talking about something he doesn’t seem comfortable with. Tenzou on the other hand had questions he wanted to ask regarding you. Feeling bad for keeping him for too long, you decided to let him go eventually. Besides, the both of you were talking casually at an assassination task force for heaven’s sake.

            “Ohhh, there you are.”

            You and Tenzou turned to the man who sauntered over to join in on the conversation. Kakashi stood between the two of you, inadvertently a little closer to you.

            “Thank you for your effort today Senju-sama,” Kakashi said, he was playing around regarding the tone in his voice.

             Tenzou wanted to slap him. He almost did.

            “Please, I can go without the ‘sama,’ Hatake-senpai,” you responded.

            “Either way, you did well for your first anbu mission. But watch out, it may have been like the academy today, but it’s only going to get grueling from there.”

            You speculated about what he meant by that. However you noted your leader’s advice. The sun was about to go down, and this was usually the moment you would set about to unknown missions of your own. It felt almost unnatural to be able to go home early that day.

            “Thank you Hatake-senpai, and thank you Tenzou-san for your time to answer my questions.”

            You bowed your head and left abruptly without giving Tenzou a chance to speak. You were eccentric in his eyes. Someone who would come and go and was hard to catch up with. Like a mystery to be solved. Part of him hoped that he would be able to get to know you more, since now a second legend was in the same tactical squad as him.

            ---

           It had been about a few weeks or so since you had joined the organization. Your schedule was filled up, and the only time you were in your apartment was for a few hours to sleep. Being in the anbu set off you inner clock work off for a while now. It was usually morning missions, but on some occasions, night shifts as well. It felt like you were in a foreign time zone every other moment, but slowly you were getting used it. You still had to dispense with your unusual nightfall tasks while dealing with Kakashi surmising that you were up to something. After a while, you took consideration into meeting up with the odd shinobi. He was annoyingly reminding you about seeing him for an important talk between just the two of you. He only mentioned that it wasn’t about anything related outside of the anbu. This left you with a few questions.

 

            In fact, for the past few weeks, Kakashi had actually been watching over you. Your thoughts roamed around for conjectures about what he was up to. Was he suspecting you already? Perhaps he was doing this for a special purpose or it was an assignment given to him specifically to spy on you. You weren’t exactly opening up to your team and you’d be lying if you didn’t have any secrets.

            You haven’t done anything particularly wrong. You used to be close with the Hokage, and the Third was the one that allocated the missions anyway. Right now you were just completing possible assignments that could be doomed to fail easily by anyone who wasn’t you. That’s right; you were quite bold about both your abilities and your choices. The secret operations you gave yourself normally lasted for one night, but then again, that was doing just for the village and the people in it.

            On your way to the meet-up, you realized your surroundings once stepping out of your apartment. You rarely walked through the village during daytime, and the shops and people were opening up to a lively every-day street festival. The aroma of early morning baked dango, bread, fresh fish, and ramen slithered its way to your nose. You couldn’t help but stop a few times and debate on what to eat on your way home, or what to buy for dessert if your wallet could handle it.

            Snapping yourself out of it, you shook your head and continued trudging along. The chattering of the people faded little by little. All you could think of now was what Kakashi wanted to talk to you about.

            You prowled inside the woods to search for Kakashi who could be lying on a branch like some runaway stray cat at the very moment. He was also likely to be waiting there alone like the suave fellow that he was. Streaks of light penetrated through the leaves with brilliant beams. The gold light illuminating from the greens were enough to warm you up already. It wasn’t exactly the worst part of summer yet as the slight breeze of early May was there to assist you like a fan.

            You walked a little more and then halted when you saw a slight movement; the page of a book turning quietly. You snapped your head upwards to your right and saw him exactly where you knew he would be. His back was sprawled out on the enormous tree trunk with his legs spread straight on the wide branch like a bench.

            “Lost your way?” Kakashi asked you.

            “No, did you forget?”

            Kakashi chuckled at your response. Since the last few weeks of knowing you little by little, he enjoyed your easy-going nature from time to time.

            "Say, want to go have some tea with me? I'm buying."

            You tried to be polite, you really did. But by now he was more of a close friend than you superior.

            "Of course it's on you. Why would a subordinate pay for their peer?" you talked back.

            Kakashi half-smiled behind his mask. He jumped down from his favorite branch spot and was already standing next to you. You almost thought he had teleported judging by his speed.

            "Fine, let's go then."

            You walked back on the same pathway to the village except now the other way around, as well as with a friend this time. Both of you did feel the presence of a few eyes landing on the two of you. Were they intimidated? Maybe. Were they admiring you and the copycat? Not so much. You ignored their stares and caught up to walk side by side instead of trailing behind the masked man.

            "Ahhh, sweet aroma of wadarashi dango," Kakashi said to himself, but loud enough for you to hear.  

            After settling down in the old still-standing dango shop, you both took seats across from each other and ordered. You enjoyed some matcha and sticky sweet sauce dangos while Kakashi had the same thing. Hot steaming tea came along for you to wash down the rice cakes.

            Your teeth slid through the wooden bamboo stick to grab hold of the last round mochi piece. You chewed elaborately and swallowed it whole. Your heart wanted more, but your head knew it was prudent to have your senior’s wallet empty-handed after leaving the place.

            "So, what did you want to talk with me about?" You asked him. There must have been a reason he called you all the way here.

            "I know you've been leaving the village from time to time."

            You halted half-way from sipping you tea.

            "What do you-"

            "I know about your absence during certain events like the nine-tails attack as well," he interrupted.

            Just what was this? Five minutes after eating and now he was pulling out receipts for an argument that hasn’t even happened yet. You weren’t surprised that he was aware of your nightly mission though.

            "What do you mean? Of course I was there, just not in the anbu. There’s no possible way we met during that time." You gave him a look as you told him this. Just who did he think he was judging you by disloyalty?

            “Hmmm,” Kakashi tilted his head to the left as if to examine you. “Well you’re right about that. But the main thing I wanted to talk to you about is what you’re up to sneaking around on your own like some night owl hunt. It isn’t a coincidence that the earliest given assignments are done by the next day magically.”

            He found out.

            You hesitated for a bit. You weren’t breaking the rules or betraying the village in any way, but further lies and more excuses could lead him to think you were planning to. Surprisingly you couldn’t hide it from him. He was not just skilled in combat.

            “I will be honest then. I admit, I have not been exactly faithful to the anbu corporation. However, my night job is my job alone. I finish them so that we don’t afford to lose anything in the village. Not like what happened eight years ago. Not again.” You felt like you were boasting, so you drank your tea to swallow down anything more about injustice.

            It took a bit for Kakashi to take your words into consideration; he would have to take a few days in fact to think about it. But of course you weren’t doing wrong. It was just that he didn’t like a member of a team carrying out deputations on their own. Based on his own childhood experiences in which he did the same sort of thing thing, Kakashi was careful when it came to stuff like this. Like you with your own personal problems, whatever that could be, he couldn’t afford to lose a friend again.

            “It’s great you have your own goals, and you’re even more skilled than I am.” You insisted that you were not but Kakashi continued to praise you. “You’re someone who is pretty important too, who won’t die easily that’s for sure, but you’re the type to jump into their own death simply for the sake of the village. I just have to say, you have others who worry about you when you go snooping around without us knowing. We trust you, but you’re going to have to trust us back. You’ve been welcomed in a team already. You’ll always be important to all of us when you’re a member. No matter what.”

            You had a hard time coping with this. The wise words and the warm embrace radiating from Kakashi had set your heart aflame. Just how were you supposed to answer to that? You promised to ease down on your solo night missions, and decided to respond with a small thank you.

            After clearing up, you both talked about the attack from earlier in the conversation. Kakashi leaned in to whisper in case anyone was eavesdropping. It was _not_ a conversation to be talked aloud casually. It could frighten the villagers or set them on firing rage.

            "The boy who has the nine tailed fox stored inside him is growing up. The villagers already despise him," Kakashi informed you.

            "How come? It's not like he was the one who unleashed the fox."

            "I know. That's a fact that everyone knows, but they're still looking for someone to blame for the incident. The Fourth's death."

            Just when you were about to ask another question, Kakashi glimpsed at a familiar face appearing from under the tenugui on the store entrance. He poked his head out and saw you two as well. Once he was fully inside the small shop you noticed Kakashi look over your shoulder and so you turned your head to see what it was.  

            “Funny seeing you here,” Kakashi said to him.

            “Senpai,” Tenzou greeted him back.

             He nodded his head at you before calling you “Senju-domo.” If you had a penny for every time you reminded him to refer to you as [y/n], you could be richer than the Hokage.

            “I’ll let it slide for now,” you told him.

            You both laughed it off lightly, but sweat rolled down the back of Tenzou’s head.

           “Then [y/n]-san,” he corrected himself. “How are you?”

           “I’m well; it’s been quite some time since we last saw each other. Would you like to sit and have tea with us?” you welcomed him.

           “I hope you don’t mind me just sitting then,” Tenzou said. You scooted over to make room for him since Kakashi didn’t move an inch. Tenzou took the seat in thanks.

            You three talked for a little bit, actually it was more like chit chatting between just the two of you. Kakashi sat there and pulled out one of his novels he somehow was able to carry anywhere, quite bored by the exclusion. Without much of a reaction, there was a small plate of matcha dangos covered in anko red bean paste in front of Tenzou. He saw you sneering when he thought it was ordered for yourself. Of course a cup of tea came along with it. Tenzou sighed in comprehension and said his thanks once again.

           You liked him little by little. You could also tell why his superior, whom was sitting right in front of you, would get on his nerves sometimes. It was the same with you as well. But you understood why the two got along. Both were capable but one was reliant on the other it seemed. Kakashi eyed the two of you curiously, but thought not much of it.

           “Kakashi-senpai, like I said before, seniors are usually the ones to pay for their subordinates. You’re the senior,” you stated bluntly after seeing him get up.

           “Ehhh,” Kakashi groaned. He looked over at Tenzou for help.

           “I’m with her on this one,” Tenzou agreed. He was always the victim of Kakashi’s smooth talk when it came to paying for meals.

           Kakashi sighed and agreed to pay, but made a self-promise of never taking you out again. Although ‘never’ is not guaranteed for his new but strangely nostalgic team.


End file.
